Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I got sent an advance screener of Universal's Spike Lee Joint, INSIDE MAN, so I figured I'd write a little review of the disc for you fine folks.
I was very happy to see arrive in my mailbox. I just saved me $20 because I was going to buy this sucker tomorrow. I really dug the flick starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer. It's a heist film in the vain of DOG DAY AFTERNOON, with Clive Owen playing a mastermind holding hostages in a bank and Denzel Washington as a detective who has to try to figure out his game. It really is a match of wits and one of my favorite films I've seen this year. I gave the flick a mini-review back before release, so you can read that here for a little more of my opinion of the flick!!!
The DVD isn't packed, but it does have what should be the average for every single DVD release, but I've seen $25 Special Editions that have less extras than this one... God, I hate those 2-disc Special Editions that are released at the same time as the one disc regular edition. They have what should be the standard for extra features, but you're charged $10 more for 'em.
Anyway, what we have here is a commentary from Spike Lee, tons of deleted scenes (25 minutes or so), a Making Of and something called Number 4 which is Denzel and Spike sitting down together going over their previous collaborations up to and including their fourth, INSIDE MAN.
THE COMMENTARY
Spike started off the commentary letting us know that it was his birthday and that for the first time he's recorded a commentary while the film he was talking about was still fresh in his head. I believe at this point INSIDE MAN hadn't been released yet.
The commentary isn't very spectacular, honestly, but I love hearing directors talk about working with their cast and those moments proved to be the highlights of the commentary for me. A lot of the commentary is "oh, this is the scene where Denzel talks to Clive... I love Clive..." type stuff, but I have heard worse. It's worth a listen for any fan of Spike's or this particular movie. He also points out cameos from original cast members of DOG DAY AFTERNOON, which is really fun to see. My other favorite moments of the commentary are finding out which spots were improvised. Spike tells us that almost every interrogation scene was completely improvised to get a natural back and forth. It worked thanks mainly to Denzel's quick wit and super awesome actor's instincts.
DELETED SCENES
A lot of those improvised scenes I mentioned above are here, excised for time. These sequences were actually very fun to see. The other deleted scenes give us more layers to the robber's plans. We find out why none of the hostages heard the digging and reconstruction going on down the hall, etc.
MAKING OF INSIDE MAN
This was alright. Pretty typical EPK (Electronic Press Kit) interviews with the cast and Spike. Nothing new or special here.
NUMBER 4
This was my favorite special feature. Both Spike and Denzel just sitting on barstools bullshitting about hanging out and their previous works, including MO' BETTER BLUES and MALCOLM X. This felt like hanging out with 2 good friends. Very natural, very funny. By far my favorite extra.
The transfer seemed really nice on my 60" TV and my cheap little sound system didn't let me down. To be honest, unless there's something very blatantly wrong with the video or audio, I don't tend to notice this kind of stuff.
That's it on INSIDE MAN the DVD. I highly recommend this movie and the disc ain't too light on the special features, so go for it if you can get it cheaply. I'm sure Wal-Marts and Best Buys and Targets will have it right around $15... It's under $15 at Amazon right now. Totally worth it for that price!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
